Haven’t you heard? The dire wolves are being brought back! No, they haven’t. There are several scientists who know for certain that dire and gray wolves aren’t related. When articles began reporting on the use of wolf genes as the basis for this resurrection, and photos showed a giant white wolf, it was fair to be skeptical.
Colossal Biosciences is a biotech company whose purpose is to de-extinct animals.
Popular media say they’ve successfully done so with their three dire wolf pups. Twin males Romulus and Remus, born October 1, 2024, and Khaleesi, a female born January 30th, 2025. There’s a video of their announcement on their official YouTube page, along with other videos made specifically for clickbait and to attract more attention to these pups.
There are many scientific reasons why you should care about this ‘de-extinction’. One reason Hank (hankschannel, YT) mentions is that this new dire wolf would be necessary only to fill a niche left by their extinction. This niche is nonexistent because they’ve been extinct for thousands of years. Beyond this, it doesn’t fix the issue of the extinction period. Scientists did not bring back an animal; they altered a species to fill the need for one. Media, like Game of Thrones, has manipulated how people view the dire wolf and has caused a misconception that now has real consequences.
The Trump Administration wants to change the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Shortly after the reveal of these genetically modified gray wolves, the Trump Administration came out and said it wants to change the ESA’s definition of ‘harm’ to support its decision to tear apart endangered habitats. Thedailybeast.com has cited that Doug Burgum, the 55th secretary of the United States, has used the resurrection of the dire wolves to say we don’t need to protect these habitats anymore. NPR.org has its own article about the whole thing, unrelated to the dire wolves. However, in each instance, the Trump Administration says that unless you are directly harming the endangered animal, you should not be legally held accountable. However, habitat loss is the primary cause of these extinctions.
The Daily Beast quotes Burgum saying, “If we’re going to be in anguish about losing a species, now we have an opportunity to bring them back. I mean, pick your favorite species and call up Colossal.” Ancient dire wolves are not even real wolves. Colossal has not brought back any animal; they genetically engineered one. This completely destroys Burgum’s argument and actually enforces the need for the ESA as these modified wolves wouldn’t have been possible without the current gray wolf.
That is why it’s important to be knowledgeable. Without real scientists claiming that the two species aren’t so closely related, there would be no one to call out Colossal’s clickbait and even less reason to fight against any changes made to the ESA. Do your research, and keep animal habitats safe.
Featured image via Anthony Sebbo on Unsplash
